The nicest guys' who have found the winning mantra

This is a New Zealand side that, mind you, is still waiting on Kane Williamson to get match fit. Tim Southee one half of their best ODI opening bowling attack ever-is recovering from a thumb injury. As is Lockie Ferguson, who has a unique ability to generate fearsome pace with a frame not quite of a conventional fast bowler. Individuals should never matter in a team sport.

- Somshuvra Laha

But, by design, cricket filters the scrutiny to one-on-one confrontations and matchups, reducing non-strikers, fielders, the spectators and even the scenarios into mere numbers. How did then New Zealand, without the long shadow cast by some of their most experienced aces, absolutely overwhelm defending champions England in Thursday's World Cup opener?

New Zealand are always the nicest guys in cricket, often highlighted as a quality more redeeming than their penchant to be a side greater than the sum of their parts. With them, skills don't necessarily have to be curated according to formats or needs. Breaking down Thursday's performance highlights that even more.

First, onto the headlining act-a scintillating 270-run partnership between Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra. You can call Conway a proper white-ball convert-scoring a double hundred on Test debut in England to stake a claim for that position in the shorter formats. But he has also kept wickets in more than half of his career T20Is.